Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning speaks at a regular press briefing on Sept. 9, saying China has “never kicked away the development ladder” for the Global South. / Chinese Foreign Ministry website

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Sept. 9 rejected what she called the international community’s “kicking away the ladder” argument that China focuses only on its own development while depriving other Global South countries of opportunities to develop, saying instead that China has “worked to build ladders for others.”

“Through high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, we are helping participating countries address infrastructure gaps,” Mao said at a regular press briefing. She added that China provides competitively priced industrial equipment and technology products and shares experience and technologies to help lower the cost of industrial development.

“Through measures such as zero-tariff access for exports to China, we have taken the initiative to share benefits and market opportunities, helping Global South countries better integrate into global production and supply chains and strengthen their development resilience,” Mao said. She added that “helping others stand after establishing oneself” lies at the heart of China’s approach to international cooperation.

Chinese state media also pushed back strongly against the criticism. State-run Xinhua News Agency said the argument that China’s growing influence in global manufacturing and trade is squeezing the economic space available to other developing countries assumes that as China’s share of production rises, there is less room for others.

“But the global economy is by no means a fixed pie,” Xinhua said.

The news agency argued that China’s open market, advanced technologies and extensive supply chains, rather than reducing growth opportunities for developing economies, have expanded the size of the global economy and provided important sources of growth. It added that this experience offers a useful case for assessing the so-called “China squeeze.”

The “kicking away the ladder” argument is closely related to Western claims of a “China squeeze,” which contend that China’s manufacturing export competitiveness is limiting opportunities for industrialization in developing countries.

Shoumitro Chatterjee, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, raised similar concerns in a June article in Foreign Affairs titled “China Is Kicking Away the Ladder It Climbed.” The argument appears to have enough substance that it cannot simply be dismissed as excessive criticism of China.

                                                                                                             Hong Soon-do